A common bird at my feeding station in the winter, but one that has been pretty evasive of late. this is probably the quintessence of “bird-on-a-stick” images, but that’s where it gave me the shot. I did like the pose a lot.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
I did fairly minimal processing on this one. Just cropping, exposures, feather enhancement, and painting over the lower left background that went to white. If you see any anomalies, please let me know.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Anything.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Sony a6500, Sony 200-600 @ 588 mm, gimbal head mounted to blind window, f/8, 1/320, iso 2500, manual exposure (I still had to boost it quite a bit in post). Processed in LR & PS CC. Noise reduction with Neat Image, feather enhancement with Topaz Detail. Cropped from the left and bottom with a bit of canvas added to the top. Final size was 5824x3920 pixels. Taken this morning at 8:24 am.
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Hello Dennis, no complaints here. I like the background and the color in the bird. The pose is perfect with the catch light in the eye. Thanks for sharing,
Brian
I like the composition and it maybe a quintessential BOAS, but it’s a good demonstration how to make such a shot work. The detail looks great and the bird and perch stand out well from the background. Don’t see any issues with processing.
Question: I don’t see any noise, which one would expect at 2500, so is this lack a noise due mostly to the camera, Neat Image, or equally both. Noise seems to be my biggest nemesis and I’m trying to figure out if I should invest in a new camera (Sony mirrorless) or if I simply need a good NR plug-in. I should probably just spring for the latter and see what happens, but I’d value your thoughts. Thanks.
@Allen_Brooks, thanks for the comment. My experience has been that the noise in the 7DII and the Sony A6500 are pretty much the same and it’s largely the processing that makes the difference. I’ve been using both cameras at this iso and no one has mentioned a significant noise issue in anything I’ve posted. However, to test this theory somewhat, I reprocessed this image with no noise reduction and also excerpted just the bird to get it larger and show the noise difference with and without noise reduction. Both of those images are screen shots after the application of my default Topaz Detail adjustment to bring out feather detail.
Image reprocessed without noise reduction:
Just the bird without noise reduction:
Just the bird with noise reduction:
The Pro version of Neat Image as a plug-in only is available for $79.90 (you need the pro to do 16 or 32 bit images). The plugin and standalone versions bundled run $99.90. While the new Topaz stuff is excellent, it is very computationally intensive and I don’t feel like I want to spend the money on a computer upgrade for any marginal difference. I hope this helps with your decision.
A wonderful shot of this little guy, Dennis. Your processing is ever bit as good as your great photography skills. It looks great to me as presented. 
Thanks, @Dennis_Plank. The information is helpful. I’m impressed with how well Neat Image works. Probably have to give it a try.
Pretty little bird. I don’t often see the Chestnut-backed around here. Good for you.
Busy perch!!
Dave
Ah yes, the ever elusive Chestnut-backed Chickadee. They have evaded me, and I still haven’t seen one, haha. You captured him perfectly. No nits from me!
Drop me a line if your wanderings ever bring you to Western Washington in the winter, Jenaya. We have plenty of them.
1 Like
Thanks Dennis! I will keep that in mind for sure.
